Cistern cut-out and rain-water filter.



PATENTED JULY 30, 1907.

W. F. LITSINBERGER. GISTERN GUT-OUT AND RAIN WATER FILTER.

APPLIOATION FILED APB..29,1907.

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W. P. LITSINBBRGBR. I

GI-STERN CUT-OUT AND RAIN WATER FILTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.29,1907. ZSHEETS-SHEET 2.

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W F. L1 TSINBER GER citizen of the United States, residing at Oentralia, in

I looked in either position so as to cause all of the water WILLIAM F. LITSINBERGER, OF CENTRALIA, ILLINOIS.

CISTERN CUT-OUT AND RAIN-WATER FILTER.

No. 861,995. Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 29,1907. Serial No. 3'70,91l.

Patented July 30, 1907.

j the upper wall 13 of its horizontal portion. Arranged substantially parallel with the Walls or wire screen, 12 and 13, are similar walls, or screens, 14 and 15, which are preferably removable as by means of flanges, 16 and 17. Arranged between the respective walls or screens of the filter box is suitable filtering material, 18 and 19, which consist of sponges, charcoal, or other suitable material.

The filtering box is supported upon flanges, 20, upon the inside of the casing l, and has the inner end of its horizontal portion provided with a lip or extension 21, which is adapted to overhang the upper edge of the trough-like portion, 6, of the permanent, partition. In this manner after the water has passed down through the filtering box, and the filtering material, it flows over into the trough-like portion, 6, and from there it is discharged into the cistern through an outlet 22. If desired, a substantially trough-like piece of fine screen or filtering material, 23, is adapted to be secured in the trough-like portion as by having one of its edges formed into a hook, 24, that engages with a flange 25 upon the wall, 5, and its other edge formed into a similar hook, 26, which engages loosely with the upper edge of the inner wall of the trough, 6.

The automatic mechanism includes a receptacle, 27, and a float, 28, which are reciprocally mounted in a casing 29, that is removably held within the casing, l, by means of two spring arms, or thumb latches, 30, which are each provided with a shoulder, as a pin, 31, which is adapted to engage with the walls of the casing 1, and hold the casing 29 in position. The arms 30 are preferably seated in hollow projections, 32, which are adapted to be movably seated between fianges 33 on the walls of the casing, 1. The ends of the casing 29 are provided with pivot points, 34, as by extending said ends upwardly, substantially roof shape, upon which is pivotally mounted a plate or cut-out, 35. The ends of the plate 35 are preferably flanged or turned upward, as shown at 36, and one of them is provided with a flange, 37, which has a notch, 38 formed midway of its length or adjacent to the pivotal point, 34. A lever 39 is pivotally mounted in the top of the casing l and has two arms, 40, pivotally connected with its lower end. The free end of each arm is provided with a shoulder 41, which is adapted to engage with the notch 38 and thereby lock the platform or cut-out, 35, in one inclined position or the other, according to whichever way the lever 39 is moved, or to be held out of engagement therewith when the lever stands vertically, or in the position to permit the cut-out to be actuated automatically.

The casing 29 is provided with a partition, 42 which divides it into two compartments 43 and 44, and the bottom of the casing 29 is provided with one perforation, 45, in the compartment 43, and the other one is provided with two or more perforations, 46, in the compartment, 44. Two rods, 47 and 48 extend vertically To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. LITSINBERGER, a

the county of Marion and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cistern'Gut-Out and Rain-Water Filters; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to automatic cistern cut-out and rainwater filters, and has for its object to provide a device of this kind by means of which the water which has fallen upon a roof will be prevented from running into the cistern until after the roof has been propcrly cleansed, after which the Water will be automatically turnecl into the cistern and caused to pass through suitable filtering material.

The mechanism for accomplishing this result is so constructed that it can. be operated automatically, or

falling upon the roof to pass into the cistern, or to be prevented from passing thereinto. The filtering material is so retained or held in position that access may be readily had to it at all times, whereby it may be taken out for cleaning purposes, or for being renewed at any time.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement of parts of a combined cut-out and filter, as will be more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, Figure 1 is a vertical central cross sectional View of a device embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a similar view on the line 33 of Fig. l; and Fig. 4 is a broken perspective view of the filtering box detached.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, which are for illustrative purposes, and are, therefore, not drawn to scale, 1 indicates the outer shell or casing, which is preferably formed from sheet metal, as galvanized iron, and is substantially rectangular in cross section, with its ends, 22, tapered or inclined toward the top. The top of the casing is provided with an inlet, 3, and the bottom with an outlet, 4.

Permanently secured within the casing, adjacent to one side, is a wall, 5, which is provided at its lower end or formed into a trough-like portion, 6, whereby a channel is formed from the upper portion of the casing down to the bottom, which communicates with the outlet, 4. The other inclined side of the casing is provided with an opening, 8, within which a filter box, 9, is adapted to be moved into and out of the casing, by means of a handle-10. The filter box is substantially L-shaped, and has the lower portion of its inner wall, 11, perforated at 12, as by being provided with woven Wire, and also through the perforation 45, and one of the perforations 46, and are connected with the float 28 and receptacle 27, respectively, and have their upper ends projected through openings 49 and 50, in the plate or cut-out, the opening 50 being preferably provided with slots, 51, for permitting the passage of water into the receptacle 27. 4

The cut-out is adapted-to be normally held in position vfor deflecting the water from the inlet 3 into the channel 7 by means of a spring 52, which is connected with one end of the casing 29, adjacent to its pivotal point, 34, and has its free end connected with the bottom of the platform 35. A link 53 is pivotally connected with the bottom of the platform at one end and with the rod 48 at the other, and the bottom of the receptacle 27 is provided with an opening 54,- which is adapted to be closed by a ball valve 55, seated in a cage, 56. A pin 57 from the bottom of, the compartment 44 is located in position for passing through said perforation and unseating the ball valve whenever the receptacle descends, thereby permitting its contents to escape and to pass out of the casing 29 through the opening 46.

Secured to the underside of the cut-out 35 is a bow rod 58, which is provided with two notches, 59, and is adapted to be moved adjacent to the rod 47. One of the notches 49 is located upon the upper or concave side of the rod, and is adapted to be engaged by an arm 60 which is pivotally secured to one side of the casing 29 and the other notch is upon the convex side of the rod, and is adapted to be engaged by a similar arm, 61, which is also pivotally secured at the side of the casing 29. The arms 60 and 61 are yieldingly held in their operative positions as by means of a coiled spring 62.

. The free ends of the arms are upon opposite sides of the rod 47 and each of them bent laterally so as to engage with said notches and also to be engaged by oppositely extending pins 63 and 64 on the rod, 47, one of said pins being adjacent to the top or" the float 28 and the other one adjacent to the bow rod 58 when the parts are in their normal positions.

In using the device as above described, it is connected with the eaves-spout by means of the inlet 3, and with the cistern by the outlet 22, and, where convenient, with the sewer or waste water way through the outlet 4. When the rainwater passes in through the inlet 3, it strikes the cut-out 35 and is deflected into the waste water way or channel 7 and down through the outlet 4 until the roof has been thoroughly cleansed, as, for instance, within half an hour. While the water is being deflected in this manner, a small portion of it is gradually passing through the openings 49 and 50, around the rods 47 and 48 and into the float chamber 43 and the receptacle 27, respectively. By the time the float chamber has filled sufliciently to cause the float to rise and lift the arm 60 by means of the pin 63, the receptacle 27 will have been filled sufliciently to cause it to descend and thereby reverse the position oi the cut-out by means of the link 53. When the float 28 rises and releases the cut-out in this manner, it will also cause the arm 61 to be held in position for engaging with the notch 59 upon the lower side of the bow rod and thereby lock the cut-out in that position until after the float has descended, which will cause the pin 64 to engage with the free end of said arm and to withdraw it from said shoulder and thereby permit the coiled spring 52 to restore the platform to its normal position. So long as the water is falling upon the cut-out after it has been set so as to run off the water into the cistern, a portion of it will continually pass into the float chamber 43, and thereby hold the float in its elevated position, but as soon as the water ceases falling upon the cut-out, the water within said chamber will be diminished by its escaping through the opening 45 and thereby cause the descent of the float until finally the pin 64 will engage with the arm, 61, and withdraw it from the notch 59, as above described, and permit the cut-out to return to its normal position. The return of the cut-out to its normal position is also facilitated by the passage of the contents of the receptacle 27 when it descends, and the pin 57 raises the ball 55 and thereby uncovers the opening, 54. When the cut-out is thus restored to its normal position for deflecting the water into the waste way, the receptacle will be elevated and the float will be lowered into position ready to be actuated as soon as the water from the inlet has filled the one and raised the other, as above described.

After the cistern has been filled, or if it is desired for any other reason to hold the cut-out in position for discharging all of the water into the waste way, the lever 39 is moved into such position as to permit the shoulder 41 on the end of one of the arms 40 to engage with the notch 38 and thereby prevent the movement of the Cut-out into its reverse position. On the other hand, if it be desired to turn all of the water into the cistern without permitting any of it to escape, the lever 39 is moved in the opposite direction so as to cause the shoulder upon the arm 40 at that side to engage with said notch, 38, and then tripping the cut-out by raising the float manually through the opening 8, and lowering the receptacle.

The casing 1 is made of sufiicient size to permit the use of a large filtering box, whereby the greatest amount of water that is liable to be received through the inlet 3 can be filtered as rapidly as it is received, and thereby pass into the cistern in a pure condition, the fine screen or gauze, 23, absolutely preventing the entrance oi insects, etc., to the cistern, especially the yellow fever mosquitoes. The movement of the rods through the openings inthe cut-out will also serve to prevent the cloggingof openings 49 and 50 and the openings 45 and 46. Access is readily had to the filtering material at any time by withdrawing the filtering box and removing the perforated retainers therefor; and access is also had to the automatic mechanism which is self-contained, whereby it can be readily removed and returned in case of breakage or disarrangement of any of the parts.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim: 1. In an automatic cut-out and filtering device, a casing provided with a substantially Lshaped partition forming a Waste way at one side, an inlet and an outlet communicating with said waste way, a substantially L-shaped filtering box upon the opposite side, and an outlet from said partition adapted to communicate with said filtering box. 2. In an automatic cut-out and filtering device, a casing provided with an'inlet at its top and an outlet in its hottorn, a substantially L-shaped partition in the casing,

the lower end of which is turned upward to form a troughlike portion, an outlet extending from said portion through the bottom of the casing, 11 screen removably secured in said trough-like portion, a substantially Lshaped box rementioned casing, a float and a receptacle in said second mentioned casing, that is adapted to project through said plate, and means for connecting the float and the out.

(i. In automatic cut-out inent casing, rated,

the receptacle, and means for holding said plate in either position and adapted to be actuated by the rod through the float.

7. In automatic cut-out ment casing,

automatic cut-out mech- I casing, a notched bow rod connected With the underside thereof, iods through the peifoiatlons of the casin and gaged by the pins on said rod, and means for normally holding said plate in one position.

8. In automatic ment casing, a plate pivotally mounted at the upper end thereof, a coiled spring ing nected with said float being ing with said arms, and a link connected from the receptacle and with said plate.

9. In an automatic cut-out and filtering device, a casing with by said lever.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

WILLIAM F. LITSINBERGFJR.

my hand in Witnesses JOHN R. DUNCAN, M. DUNCAN. 

